"Switchbacks are for pack animals"

This week we experienced a lot of boggy mud and also some mountains without switchbacks so what else is new? A Maine AT club told us switchbacks are for pack animals and our friend Mother Goose said well, what do you think we are?

We have made a few really nice friends that we are more or less traveling with. One is Mother Goose. I don't know how old she is but it's pretty old. She's hiked the AT five times and was the first woman to do a yo- yo which is where you hike GA to ME then immediately turn around and hike back to GA. Then there is Walker. He is always in a good mood ( except once when it started hailing 30 mins before he reached the lean- to) and he sings songs that he's inserted his own trail lyrics into. Also one day he made and shared some cherry cornbread with us, that was tasty. He even put butter on it. Then there is Brookie, who is the rain fire starter and who named us Flora and Fauna. He is faster than us but he also stops several times a day to fish with a retractable fishing pole.